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CAREER GUIDE 2017–2018
CLEMSON UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR CAREER AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
/ClemsonCCPD
57 56
QUESTIONS ASKED BY EMPLOYERS
Personal:
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. What are your hobbies?
3. Why did you choose to interview with our organization?
4. What can you offer us?
5. What do you consider to be your strengths/weaknesses?
6. Have you ever had any failures? What did you learn from
them?
7. Of which three accomplishments are you most proud?
8. Who are your role models? Why?
9. How does your college education or work experience relate
to this job?
10. What motivates you most in a job?
11. Have you had difficulty getting along with a former
supervisor/co-worker? How did you handle it?
12. Why should we hire you rather than another candidate?
13. What do you know about our organization (products,
services and history)?
14. What was the most useful criticism you ever received,
and who was it from?
15. Where do you want to be in five years? Ten years?
Education:
1. Why did you choose your major/college/university?
2. In which campus activities did you participate?
3. Which classes did you like best? Least? Why?
4. Do your grades accurately reflect your ability? Why or why
not?
5. Describe your leadership style.
Experience:
1. What job related skills have you developed?
2. What did you learn from these work experiences?
3. What did you enjoy most about your last employment?
Least?
4. What are your team-player qualities? Give examples.
5. How do you think a former supervisor would describe your
work?
6. What frustrates you most?
Behavioral:
Before you begin interviewing, think about these questions and
possible responses and discuss them with a career adviser.
Those questions asking for a story should be portrayed in a
positive light, and include specifics of the situation, your action
and the results. Conduct mock interviews and be sure you are
able to communicate clear, unrehearsed answers.
1. Describe a time when you kept other individuals informed
about projects or things that impacted their job or role.
2. Tell me about a time when you communicated technical
or field-related information to individuals outside of your
area of expertise.
3. Describe how you have contributed to your organization’s,
department’s or employer’s goals.
4. Tell me about a time when you worked on a team. What
was your role and how did you ensure you met your
commitments to the team?
5. Tell me about a time when you delegated work to
others. How did you decide what to delegate to different
individuals?
6. Tell me about a time when you worked with a group on
establishing a plan to reach a goal.
7. What do you do when priorities change quickly? Give an
example of when this happened.
8. Describe a time when you failed and had to demonstrate
resilience.
9. Describe a time when you made a suggestion to improve
the work in an organization/company/etc…
10. Describe a time when you had to analyze information and
make a recommendation. What kind of thought process
did you go through and what was your reasoning behind
your recommendation?
11. Give an example of a time where you introduced someone
else to a new technological approach to solving a
problem.
12. Tell me about a time when you disagreed with a manager
or boss. How did you handle the situation, and in looking
back, would you do anything differently?
13. Tell me about a time when you were under extreme
pressure. How did you handle the situation?
14. Give a specific example of a time when there was no rule
or precedent to help you attack a problem.
15. Tell me about a time when you had to handle a tough
problem which challenged fairness or ethical issues.
16. Give an example where you adjusted your approach to
working with a team after receiving feedback from a peer
or co-worker.
17. Describe what has impressed you about a previous
supervisor or colleague and how you have tried to emulate
that quality in your work.
Winning Questions to Ask
Here are some questions that may be appropriate to
ask. Review these questions before each interview and
decide which ones apply to your situation.
1. Why was this position created?
2. What would my initial duties be? How will they
change over time?
3. What is your method of training and orienting new
employees?
4. Tell me how this job fits in with other jobs.
5. Why did the previous person in this position leave?
6. What is the most difficult part of the job?
7. What are the expectations of the supervisor?
8. What freedom would I have in getting the job done?
9. Describe the type of person who does well in this
company.
10. How would you describe the management style of
the company as a whole?
11. What are some of the short and long range goals of
the company?
12. What would add or subtract from the incumbent’s
performance to increase their effectiveness?
13. How has the company/organization changed over the
past 5 or 10 years?
14. Can you tell me how my performance will be
evaluated?
15. What is going to be the biggest challenge of this
position?
16. When will you be making a decision to fill this job?
17. What is the next step in the application process?
18. What do you like about working for this company?
THE S.T.A.R. METHOD
The STAR Method is a systematic structure to follow when answering
behavioral-based questions during an interview. For example, when
an interviewer asks you to share a time when you set a goal and
accomplished it, you can use the S.T.A.R. Method as an outline for
discussing this experience. It is important that you “tell the story”
of your experience by including the situation, task, action and result.
Career Goals:
1. Do you prefer to work under supervision or on your own?
What kind of boss do you prefer?
2. Would you be successful working with a team?
3. Do you prefer large or small organizations? Why?
4. How do you feel about working in a structured
environment?
5. Are you able to work on several assignments at once?
6. How do you feel about travel, working overtime, the
possibility of relocating, working flextime?
7. How are you conducting your job search and how will
you make your decision?
ASK QUESTIONS THAT SHOW INTEREST
Once you have answered the interviewer’s questions, you will
usually be given the opportunity to ask questions. Interviewers
make hiring decisions based on the answers you give as well
as the questions you ask. Be prepared with questions that
show your concern for the employer’s welfare, not just your own.
This is an opportunity to separate yourself from the pack. Good
questions are related to the job for which you are applying. Ask
about job duties, the department, company goals and growth
opportunities.
Do not ask about the salary, things that you have already been
told or things that are obvious.
Avoid these kinds of questions:
1. “What about benefits?”
2. “When could I expect a promotion?”
3. “What happens after my probationary period?”
4. “How much will I earn?”
Situation Detail the background. Provide a context.
Where? When?
T ask Describe the challenge and expectation.
What needed to be done? Why?
Action Elaborate your specific action. What did
you do? How? What tools did you use?
Results Explain the results: Quantify
accomplishments, recognition, savings,
etc.
‘STAR’ Technique to Answer
Behavioral Interview Questions